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The tides are turning against offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean now that the the Obama administration has changed course and is withdrawing an earlier plan to auction off more rights. On Tuesday, the White House said that such exploration would interfere with other economic and military concerns.

With oil and gas prices low by historical standards, the decision has little economic impact at this junction. However, producers are thinking long term and know that such prices often gravitate to their historical averages, meaning that the value of oil and gas will rise over time. From the stand point of the oil and gas sectors, the sooner they get the exploration rights, the better. In January 2015, the White House indicated that more offshore drilling could occur in the Outer Shelf.

Politically, President Obama may be more inclined at this point to secure his place in environmental history. That is, he has vowed to decrease the rate of carbon emissions and by extension, to help the country rely increasingly on cleaner burning fuels both for transportation and power generation. Basically, the president can’t lose by refusing to grant further exploration rights in the Atlantic: Little development would actually occur at this time while it pleases the environmentalists.

"This is a balanced proposal that protects sensitive resources and supports safe and responsible development of the nation’s domestic energy resources to create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, in a statement. "The proposal focuses potential lease sales in areas with the highest resource potential, greatest industry interest and established infrastructure."

SHISHMAREF, AK - JULY 09: The village of Shishmaref, Alaska, which sits upon the Chukchi sea, is seen on July 9, 2015. Earlier this year the Obama administration approved Shell Oil to begin drilling for oil in Arctic regions, including the Chukchi sea. Shishmaref has also had to build a seawall due to a decades-long problem with coastal erosion that has shrunk the size of the barrier island the town is built upon. The town was originally supposed to be relocated to a new site, though that plan has been put on hold. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

As far as drilling in the Altantic, Jewell said that too many other commercial and military interests were there, including fishing and tourism. States like Florida have never favored such drilling, given that the economy there is dependent on clean beaches and beautiful oceans. But other states, such as North and South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia did favor exploration, saying it would boost their economic strength -- but all agreed drilling should be at least 104 miles out.

While the Interior Department has put a halt to drilling off the Atlantic coastline, it has put out for comment the possibility of opening up more acreage in the Arctic Ocean off the Alaskan coast. Recall that last summer, President Obama toured Alaska in an effort to show how vulnerable the state is to climate change. So, his decision is ironic -- the one to potentially open up more space there to offshore drilling.

It’s especially interesting because last September, Royal Dutch Shell had said would not go ahead and explore for oil and gas in the Arctic even though it had limited approval to do so. A lot of experts pegged that to cheap oil and natural gas prices.

To be clear, oil and gas can be discovered alongside each other. But the natural gas often has to be “flared,” because it cannot be transported. Producers want a more extensive infrastructure so the assets can be monetized. That’s why oil companies will remain interested in the development of the Arctic.

“The argument for accessing Arctic resources relies on two statistics: One is that nearly a quarter of the unexploited oil and gas likely lies in that area. The other is a belief that oil consumption will drive inexorably higher in the coming years and new frontiers need to be found,” says Vikram Rao, executive director of Research Triangle Energy Consortium, in an earlier conversation with this writer.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy manages about 5,000 oil and gas leases. Most of those are in the Gulf of Mexico where 16 percent of the oil development occurs and where 5 percent of the natural gas production takes place.